from washington, the mclaughlin group. the american original. for over two decades, the if. for such a small word it packs a wallop. if i live to a hundred. if social security isn't enough. if my heart gets broken. if she says yes. we believe if should never hold you back. if should be managed with a plan that builds on what you already have. together we can create a personal safety net, a launching pad, for all those brilliant ifs in the middle of life. you can call on our expertise and get guarantees for the if in life. after all, we're metlife.

guarantees for the in life. issue one, crackdown. >> i'm about to sign wall street reform into law. to protect consumers and lay the foundation for a stronger and safer financial system. one that is innovative, creative, and far less prone to panic and collapse. >> the u.s. senate this week approved a sweeping overhaul of the u.s. financial sector. the act introduces a raft of restrictions on banks to curb risk. it seals a mammoth legislative victory for president barack obama. chris dodd, democratic chairman of the senate banking committee praises the land mark reform. >> this is a major undertaking. one that is historic in its proportions that is an attempt to set in place the structure that will allow us to minimize the problems in the future. >> richard shelby, the senior

republican on the banking committee thinks differently. >> it creates vast new bureaucracy with little accountability and seriously, i believe underminds the competitiveness of the american economy. >> wall street has been under a cloud of uncertainty for about three years. does the dodd, frank financial overhaul dispel that cloud? >> no, it doesn't, john. they didn't deal with too big to fail. they didn't really get the casinos out of the banks. they got an enormous number of new regulations. the thing is half the size of the king james bible. it is confusing. businesses are upset about it. it's on core with obama care. it's online with that, which is a gigantic increase in the power and control of government and i don't think people think it's going to do anything good. >> how many new regulations? >> thousands. >> 243. how big are they? >> how big are they? >> yes. >> they're big.

>> some of them are hundreds of pages in length. >> read it before you condemn it. eleanor. >> it's a big country, you need a lot of regulations. you need a list, and you have the right saying that it's crisping business. i think the president gets it just about right. he got with the political system could deliver. i wish it goes further. it goes plenty far enough. i think the next step has to do with to name elizabeth warren to head the consumer financial protection bureau, which is newly created entity. she's the outspoken harvard, i think she is an american government. that is a big plus. she is the voice of main street. she really does relate to the american people. i think she broken through on television. so i think this is a legislation that doesn't need much. but when it filters down, it

will take a while. i think it's a good thing for the consumer and i think banks and wall street and business will learn to live with it. they can have the unfettered free ride they had, which took us into this phi the last couple of years. okay, welcome. >> another star is born. >> all right. >> i don't want to lead the financial reform body, though. i think it would be bad for everybody. i think the problem is wall street will learn to live with it. they'll learn to profit from it. they'll make money from it. they'll make money and consumers will suffer from it. as the restrictions come in and as it becomes more complicated and as this becomes another layer of burden. another complication, people are going to find it's harder to get loans. it's harder to get their businesses running and in the meantime, we have 252 rules or something outrageous that have to be written because congress in the end really punted on

this. they didn't write the rules. they left it for other people. >> that happens later. >> how long will it take to implement? >> 2014 by the time everything gets online. >> it's ability 18 months? >> well, it's into obama's second term, just like so many other things that go on. it's into -- >> so during that period, the credit going to be held up? in other words -- >> the uncertainty continues. >> it's all a matter of straightened out. is this going to delay the recovery? >> i don't think the banks are withholding credit because of this. the banks are withholding credit because they are unsure about the economy. they are under pressure to rebuild their cash and their equity after having suffered huge losses. but the banks are saying bank of america said it is going to cost billions of dollars in terms of additional cost for the banking system. i don't know if that is right or wrong. the regulations will not be out for several years and that's what will determine how this applies. we have to do something about the financial system. whether or not they went

overboard or not is hard to tell because it got caught up in the most extraordinary lobbying. >> you don't think the banks are sitting on their cash the way corporations are sitting on their cash? >> i think the banks are sitting on their cash? >> will this give them further ammunition to keep sitting on their cash? >> not really. banks make money out of lending. what they are worried about, it's affecting small businesses. they are the ones that really suffered greatly. you look at what the banks have on their board. the big money that the banks have made. i mean the big money. they made more money than anything else is basically on derivatives. they lost money on their loans. they made households, equity loans. they made loans to students. they made credit card loans. i mean, this is where they lost the money. if you want them to go back to this business. right now they have been burnei >> let's hea . >> we face the most

predictable economic crisis in our history. this crisis that we just are going through now, many people didn't predict this one is as clear as a bell. this debt is like a cancer. it is truly going to destroy the country from within. >> united states must get its debt under control. at the national governor's association this past weekend, cochairs of the u.s. national debt commission, allen simpson and erskin bowls both told a cautionary tail about the dimension of the u.s. federal debt. which is about to surpass surpa that's $47,000 for every united states resident. co-chairman, allen simpson, 18 years u.s. senator from wyoming noted for his colorful wit also warns against the growing immensity of the nation's

public debt. >> the rest of the federal government including fighting two wars, social security, education, art, culture, you name it, veterans, the whole rest of the discretionary budget is being financed by china and other countries. >> currently, china holds $920 billion of the u.s. debt. if the u.s. does not change its debt habits in the next ten years, spending is expected to grow by some $2 trillion. that is $500 billion in social security, $500 billion in medicare. $300 billion in medicaid, and $650 to $700 billion in interest. >> we can't grow our way out of this. we could have decades of double digit growth and not get our way out of this debt problem. >> to combat the problem, the

commission will have a plan by december 1 to cut the annual 3% within the next five years. >> question, will the bowl, simpson national debt commission just appointed by president obama make matters worse? will it cause the current recession to turn into a 1930s great depression? is that possible? >> we're headed is for a real deadlock of democracy. these people are going to come in with recommendations. the democrats are going to lose 30 seats. they aren't going to cut veterans, insurance. the republicans aren't going to give them a dime in tax increases and not going to cut budget for the wars. you're going to have this deadlock of democracy, where we have 10% of the entire gross national product with three years running as a deficit. i think we're headed toward the cleft. >> this makes it far worse? >> they are going to come up with something. congress is going to say, the democrats, no way you are telling us what to do.

>> their rhetoric is damaging. it's deficit first mentality when the economy does need juicing and i think all this deficit talk is like an anchor. they are right when they say the deficit is a cancer on the economy. bill clinton told us this cancer can be cured. he had a balanced budget. i bet we are talking about a deadlock of democracy after the '94 election and president bush has just appointed -- i'm listening to myself, actually. president obama has just appointed jack lou, who was clinton's budget chief and he engineered the surplus. i don't think it's desolate as you are foreseeing. >> mort. >> i think the deficits represent the overhanging problem for the entire american economy. it could really crash the economy over a period of time and not too long. well within a generation. and these are two guys, allen simpson, who are two of the most respected and moderate

people. >> level headed? >> they are both widely respected within the political community. it is. it's a huge political problem. it is a great economic problem and everybody hopes they can kick it down field so they won't explode during their term of office. it's going to explode. we do not want to become grease. we are not quite grease, okay. at this point, if we have a situation where countries refuse to buy our debt and it could happen very quickly, we could crash the economy. >> what is not exhausted is the american fear about the pending tax increases that are coming. one of the things that is adding to the market uncertainty that you spoke of early is the fact, the bush tax cuts are going to be rolled back and there will probably be additional taxes added. >> are you aware of any poll data on the debt, just the debts? the size of the national debt we are talking about here and what impact it has on joe the plumber? >> hugely significant is this.

normally when you poll what people are interested in, debt and deficit pull at the bottom. >> still? >> no, now it's number two behind jobs. >> really. >> that is an earthquake. >> wait a minute. we are trying to give you the exit question. we have to get out. exit question. is america in danger of the current debt crisis becoming a sovereign debt crisis, like the one now hitting greece? yes or no? >> not only yes, but it's a lot sooner than the ten years mort is talking about. it could be imminent. the greece thing hit, bam. >> and a columnist and -- >> we are going around the horns. no, because we can print money and greece can't. and the bush tax cuts are for the people at the upper end of the income scale. not the middle. [ inaudible ] >> california will be greece. >> u.s. won't be.

>> one thing that is going on in this country that is close to your point. a loft people found they have mortgages that exceed the value of their homes and credit card lines they can't pay. debt is really important. it hasn't been an issue for a long time. now everybody knows it's a serious issue. it is going to be an issue that will have much more political traction. in fact, because everybody knows we are way over -- >> is it another greece? >> it's not another greece. >> deficits. >> they aren't going to bring it to greece, are they? >> they are going to bring despite uncertain world events and the resulting ups and downs in the market, we are moving america forward again. >> well mr. president, a growing number of americans don't seem to share your optimism. pbs polls released this past

week show this. item, obama overall job approval. 18 months ago, the new president gained 69% approval. today 43%. a 26% plunge. item, handling the economy. the president has spent too little time addressing the nation's economy, 52%. the president has spent the right amount of time, 33%. the president has spent too much time, 8%. item, the $787 billion obama stimulous. the stimulous has had no affects on the economy, 56%. the stimulous has helped, 23%. the stimulous has hurt, 13%. item, recession time frame. americans predict two or more years, 75%. item, afghanistan war, two months ago, 49% of americans believed the afghanistan war

was going somewhat badly or very badly. today 62% say the afghanistan war is question, is the election of president obama now causing america to experience buyer's remorse? mort. >> i think in one of the cbs polls, 62% of the country think it's going in the wrong direction. the support for obama has plummeted from whenever it was at the beginning. so i think there's a very real concern in the country about obama as president of the united states and it's not just his policies. i think there's a sense that he has not been the kind of leader everyone has been expected and the unifying of the country. he's been a devicive figure. his public support is dropping dramatically. >> let's get back into drama and that's obviously politics. head to head polls against obama. head to head polls, you've you'o

>> obama >> versus versus mitt romney, versus mike huck by, romney, obama defeated. obama against newt, against new defeated. obama against sarah palin, your favorite, eleanor. dead heat. >> you know, it's a long way to 2012. the democrats who are going to take this brunt this november are the house democrats and the president came into office. the improbability of him winning the election, i think, got people thinking he could transform all of the problems. there is a bloomberg poll that shows people blame president bush far more than they do president obama for all of the existing problems. they are impatient and this president has had extraordinary achievements. it will take months, if not years for the person on the street to feel that and it's

the economic. it's the unemployment rate that is pulling this president down. he in popularity is where president reagan was at the same point in his first term. he used -- >> you think this is reagan, good luck. >> use the slogan, stay the course and it works well for reagan and i bet it will work well for obama. >> do you think president obama bares no reflections of president reagan? >> 2006, 2008 were reputuations of conservatism. the obama people thought it was an embrace of democratic liberalism. it wasn't. 80% of the country is moderate or conservative. 20% liberal. he embraced a liberal -- he made it the party of government. when the party is antigovernment. >> he brought the economy back from the brink. how else would he have done it? >> a fair question to ask when the president has 39% approval with independent voters. isn't there a problem that goes

beyond jobs? don't you think we reached a point where people are reaching a point where obama is liberal, not a uniter, not the healer that he ran as that his team still believes he is. when he gets in the suit, you know what they do? go talk. >> the transpolitical figure. i think beyond politics? >> i call them the governing. >> 39%, that's almost what? what is it, buchanan? >> exit question. what do you call a president who sticks to his own, predetermined change agenda at a time of economic crisis and at a time of record post war joblessness. what do you call that? >> one of two things. he could be stubborn of principal. >> i think both. this man is two presidents. he is the one he campaigned on and the one he was handed,

which was a huge financial mess and he used government to pull us out of that hole, just as fdr did and the other side, the republican party -- >> you know when you call -- >> the republican party has been committed to his failure since he took office. >> you know what you call a he >> he is pragmatic belief. >> what is that? pragmatic belief in yourself? >> if he can do whatever he can. >> he has that going, too. >> which ideology? >> him first. he solve the problems that he can do the things that he is. >> he is hearing that wrap from his own party members? >> not from democrats outside the white house, but they are still high on 2008 inside the white house. they aren't thinking critically because they think that he can

make anything happen. >> obama takes care of obama first, last, and always. >> ask nancy pelosi. >> do you agree with that? >> to a degree, i do. >> very self-involved in that way. >> at one point we thought he could walk on water. now he is barely treading water. he lost so much support in the country and his rhetoric, he is so over exposed that it has not the effect it once used to have. he is in difficult political shape and nobody, nobody is going to survive the kind of economic turmoil. you can't say he inherited it. at some point, he owns the presidency. he owns the problem. they look to him to solve it. he tried to solve it with a stimulous program. >> this is the danger of ignoring the political -- >> actually -- >> issue three, loose lips, think, gibbs. >> on november 2, four months

from now, 105 days from next tuesday, americans go to the polls for midterm elections. democrats beware. >> i think there's enough seats in play that could cause republicans to gain control. >> mr. gibbs, you're in hot water now, especially with the democrats. democrats speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, commented about the press secretary this week. how could gibbs know what is going on in our district? we have made our disagreement known to the white house, unquote. the backlash from speaker pelosi left secretary gibbs scrambling to clarify his words and his views. >> i have not spoken with the speaker. there are a whole host of issues that will be worked on in the next couple weeks, that will highlight the choices that voters will have. and i think in that choice, we are going to do very well, as i

have throughout this. i think we will retain the house and the senate. >> question, was this a gast on gibbs part or were his comments calculated? >> i think he meant to say it. i think he meant to say this because he thinks he's a senior adviser to the president and he thinks he is managing expectations for the fall election. remember, the only thing that democrats have going for them when they are trying to maize money is the belief that they will hold on to the majority. that's the only way they can get the dough and for gibbs so say this. >> gibbs also said in the same context, we're going to bring the issues to the people. so this was a notification of the democrats that we could lose the election. that's what he was trying to do. am i right or wrong? >> you're right to this extent. that was something he dropped out of there and after he dropped it out, he said we're trying to alert the parties of a real serious problem. that was the line to clean it

up. that was damage control. >> right. >> i wouldn't over think this. he said what is obvious what everyone else in washington has been saying and he did send a message to the public that this is not election where you just want to register your disapproval that you're going to make a real choice. what you get if you toss the democrats out and vote the republicans in. it's also revved up the fund raising on the part of democrats, frankly. >> really? >> within the democratic caucus, the leadership packs, the people with safe seats, they now see the danger of losing their committee chairman, too. >> the other way, the money is going to dry up, because it's a lost cause. >> because the president's press secretary is mort, what do you make of gibbs? >> i find him an effective secretary. he is close to obama.

he comes from the good old days. he has access and knows what the president is thinking and that's what you want in a press secretary. >> why does he bring forward rolling stone and make that a big deal? >> when you read the article, i have to say, you read it in context, it didn't seem to be quite as the kind of -- >> mccrystal's remarks were within rank. >> well -- >> it wasn't as though he was broadcasting to the hillside of the press. >> i do think there are other journalists to whom mccrystal was complaining. what they have to do in that case was protect obama. there was a certain disparagement. >> do you think -- you don't think it was payback time on the part of obama? meaning that mccrystal has said to 60 minutes that he had not talked -- he talked to mccrystal on the phone, but never met with him, even though he was in charge of afghanistan. do you remember that? >> here's what that was.

obama was being portrayed as someone that was weak. now this general insulted him, i think they made a mistake. general, keep your mouth shut, no more interviews. >> was it a bad part on the part of the president? >> i think the president acted out of weakness because he wanted to appear strong. >> they brought the rolling stone forward? >> yes. >> they used it to fire the guy and they got general patraeus -- >> is that overly suspicious of them? >> here's what i think. i think they have a tendency to outsmart themselves. they have a tendency to get too cute and take things for granted. with the mccrystal thing, bringing rolling stone out, talk about it is just like talking about the seats they are going to lose in november. >> we can count on patraeus. >> they traded up by getting patraeus in, that the democrats predictions, pat.

> push to put hillary clinton on the ticket in 2012. >> really? >> uh-huh. >> she may trade places with joe biden and joe biden may be the next secretary of state. >> wow. this is unbelievable. >> this is big talk. >> these are big predictions. go ahead. >> british prime minister, david cameron, when he comes to washington is going to make it hard on obama because he needs operational space in britain. he's going to be hard on obama when he comes. >> whose going to win that? >> they both win it in their respective home markets. >> i predict that the democrats will lose 40 seats in the house. > predict that a major regulatory action will be imposed on the internet. don't forget to join our discussion on facebook and follow us on twitter. bye bye.

rozat k. sabich. and they're gonna charge me. don't be seen with me, man. they' your own autopsy notes? you dictate them you may stop answering questions at any timnt? any feeling that you might be a political scapegoat? is now in session, the honorable larren l. lyttle, judge, presiding.